Success and failures have been the results of our efforts to make a plate of smoky and juicy barbecued pork ribs. Key takeaway: if we are very, very pre-occupied we are not attentive enough to make sure the ribs are not burned to inedibility.
Key Action: The temperature inside the grill should not ever be hotter than 400 degrees F and should optimally stay around 300. If this plan: to cook low and slow for hours is followed, the ribs come out great. Like these pictured.
First, silver skin must be removed by slipping a knife between the skin and meat and slowly peeling off. This is key action 2.
Optional is the marinating. In some of the trials, the ribs were marinated overnight in a bath of soy, wine, oil and a ginger/echinatia juice (that includes a small amount of sugar). The marinade can later be heated to boiling and added to the barbecue sauce which was a cube of apricot puree (from the garden), tomatoes, spices.
On cooking day, we removed the ribs from fridge (and from marinate if used) and rubbed them with a mixture called Franks Famous Rub, made by a friend Mr. Frank. It is ground coffee, sugar, chili and salt, essentially. BBQ was already lit and an aluminum pan of chopped applewood was placed on the grill. The wood from the tree is usually soaked in advance before putting on the grill. One of the worst disasters was when the wood was left right on the grill (while the ribs were supposed to be going low and slow) and caught on fire burning the ribs to a crisp.
Our most successful rib experience was to get the smoke happening with a hot grill, introduce the ribs in a 1/2 restaurant pan and turn off side burners, and turn down the primary burner until the temperature maintains around 300 °F.
After about 3 hours, the ribs we place on the grill itself to brown, the BBQ sauce was made and put in the restaurant pan. Ribs when back into the pan with sauce and lid was placed on top of it.
They were ready to serve. whenever.
The BBQ Sauce:
- Saute 1/2 onion chopped fine
- add 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 t of turbinado sugar
- 2 T of New Mexico chili powder
- 4 T of apricot puree
- 1/2 cup tomato puree
- cumin, inner cardamon seed ground.
- 5 T of rice wine vinegar
- 1 T of soy sauce (omit if using soy-ish marinade)
Heat all (add marinade if you’ve used that) and bring to a boil. The cubes in this picture are the apricot and tomato purées. They are fruit from our garden that has been cooked into a purée and frozen in 1/4 cup (each) ice cube trays.
The sauce before cubes are incorporated:
The finished, puréed sauce going into a 1/4 restaurant pan that will go on the BBQ to heat up with the meat.
The wine
The wine for this meal was a Chilean one made with organic grapes that was marked down at Cliffs ($9.99 – a bargain). Odfjell Armador from Valle Central. A 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, made by a Norwegian family. It’s warm, and I think an organic wine, or natural wines, are just great cold, or with just one ice cube.
